Warp beam collar



Dec. 11, 1951 T. ROVAS 2,578,018

WARP BEAM COLLAR Original Filed May 1, 1948 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1 INVENTOR.

Tole/As Roz/As Dec. 11, 1951 v s WARP BEAM COLLAR 2 SHEETSSHEET 2Origiral Filed May 1. 1948 IN VEN TOR.

Roi/A5 Patented Dec. 11, 1951 S P TENT FFICE Divided and this a iiqe iiatch alga Q Na 31 2 Claims. (01. 242-124) This invention relates toknitting machines and'particularly to apparatus for winding yarn or'threads onto a warp beam, and the present application is a division ofmy copending application Serial No. 24,643, filed May 1, 1948.

In knitting certain articles, such as sweaters, it is desirable to weavethe, fabric in web form in such manner that one longitudinal half hasthe pattern reversed with respect to the other half, so, that when the'finished web is folded longitudinally the patterns will be"superimposed upon each other. 'This will enable two identical panels tobe cut simultaneously. Heretofore, the strands have been wound through aguidebar from the bobbin, but when one section has been wound, theguidebar has been rethreaded whenever a reversal of the pattern wasdesired. Such rethreading operation required considerable time andpainstaking effort to assure. precise positioningof the threads withrespect to each other, particularly where threads of difierent colorhave been used in making the pattern.

Another diificulty encountered in the winding of strands onto a beam, orin warping a beam as it is called in the trade, has been to make thestrands of equal length on the respective sections of the beam. Suchdifiiculty has been au mented by the use of sheets of paper which havebeen interposed inthe material for the pur: pose of supporting the endsof the adjacent sections. Such sheets have been interposed at intervalsof about one inch in depth of yarn on the beam and have overhungthe endsof the sections. The introduction of the paper, how: ever, has madeit'difiicult to determine accurately the precise length of threads "orstrands that are wound onto the. beam.

To overcome the foregoing objections, the practice has been to windstrands in a predeter mined pattern upon a pilot beam, which is usuallyabout three feet in diameter, and'then to rewind from the pilotbeamonto'the individual warp beams. Each warp beam, when wound, is

approximately fifteen inches in diameter, and

inasmuch as there are usually five or six beams used on a knittingmachine, it is apparent that beams having a size of the pilot'beam couldnot be used within the space' limitations of a knitting machine. r

An additional objection to the. use of a pilot beam is that 'therewinding operation from the pilot to, the warp beam requires as much asfifty sheets of paper "to be interposed between layers, i -i -iwl r rhslr that" iqlir some re wound onto the beam, and such practice hasnecessitated not only the expenditure of consider'able time duringwinding, but has introduced a problem ofremoving the paper from thebeams and disposing of 'it during the unwinding operation.

An object of the present invention is to provide'an apparatus by meansofwhich the rolls of strands on the warp beam may be securely held inthe desired relationship with the end portions of adjacent sectionsdisposed in close proximity to each other. The invention is illustratedin the form of supporting devices or collars which may be readilydetached from the roll or may be applied thereto in an expeditiousmanner at any desired place upon the beam. Claims to the method andapparatus by means of which the winding operation onto the beam by areversal of the position or the threads forms part of my 'co'pend-ingpatent application, Serial No.- 24,43, aforesaid.

Referring to the drawings, Fig. l is a side elevation of the deviceembodying my invention and illustrating the winding of a beam; Fig. 2 isa perspective view illustrating. the winding of a section on a beam onwhich two sections have previously been wound; Fig. 3 ma side view of aspacing'device'that is used in connection with theoperation of thepresent invention; Fig. 4 is a section taken on a plane indicated by theline 4-4 in Figl'3; Fig. 5 is an exploded side elevation illustratingthe separability of the parts of the collar illustrated'in Fig. 3; Fig.6 is a'perspective View illustrating the manner in which the collar maybe assembled-"onto the beam; Fig. 7 is a longitudinal section on a scaleany te e the; attes-1 righ't membersdfi of a frameli'and'is adaptedto'be rbtated by an electric momma through a belt connection 19. Thebobbins are shown as having their respective axes disposed in a Ivertical plane butsuc'h showingis only diagrammatic, it being understopdthat the bobbins may be mounted, if desired, with their axes in ahorilane w by' ie h ead 'an be" w t from the bobbin in a mdvemnt gener-The gathering device with which the subject matter of the presentinvention is illustrated includes a vertically extending apertured bar20 through which the strands pass, and a horizontally disposed aperturedbar 2| through which the strands also pass their travel from the bobbinsto the beam. The device also includes a roll 22 around which the strandspass in their 7 travel from the bar 2| to the beam, as is shownparticularly in Fig. 2. The bars 20 and 2| and the roll 22 are supportedupon a carriage, indicated in general at 23 which is'slidably mounted inguideways on beams 24, 25 which extend longitudinally of the frame. Thepurpose of the carriage is to permit the strands to be wound onto thebeam in one section, and then shifted as a unit to permit the winding ofthe threads, ither in the same or in reverse pattern, on another sectionof the beam.

The vertically disposed bar 2!! is shown as i being supported at itslower end in a curved guideway 21 on the carriage bed, and as beingadapted to be clamped in any desired position --.thereon. Thus, the bar20 may be positioned either close to or remote from the beam, or at 7 anangle to the bar 2| in accordance with the expediency of the particularsection that is being wound on the beam.

The roll 22 is journalled in the carriage and V has an abrasive surfaceso as to avoid slippage between it and the strands. Thus, by connectinga counter 40 to the shaft, the number of revolutions of the shaft and,therefore, the length of the yarn wound onto the beam, can be accuratelydetermined. In this way, the length of yarn on the respective sectionswound onto the beam can be readily controlled.

A feature of the present invention is the provision of relatively thindetachable collars which are adapted to be positioned between sectionsupon the roll, and which function to support the adjacent end portionsof the sections as the yarn is wound onto the beam. The outermost endsare adapted to be supported by flanges 41 which are held in place by setscrews 48. Preferably, each col1ar embodies a thimble 45 which has anopening 46 to receive the beam. Each thimble has an annular groove 49therein for receiving a pair of'semi-circular sections 50 and Eachsection has a semi-circular notch 52 for receiving the thimble, and eachembodies a relatively thin plate so as to occupy as small a space aspossible between the sections of yarn wound onto the beam.

,fI'he collar members are adapted to be locked together so as to form apartition between ad- Jacent sections. A preferred form of lockingdevice includes a pin 53 which is carried on one -member and is adaptedto coact with a latch 54 on the adjacent member. Each latch is pivpted,as at 55, and is shaped at its free end to H engage a notch 56 in thecoacting member. The pin is slidably mounted within a cylinder 51 and isurged outwardly to a position overhanging the notch by a spring 58. Theend 59 or the pin is then adapted to engage the latch so as to clamp thecoacting members together. The opposite end of the pin projects throughthe other end f of the cylinder and terminates in a head 60 by means ofwhich the pin can be withdrawn manually to permit unlatching of thecollar.

Fig. 6 shows one collar, indicated at 6|, as being soon as the twosections of the collarar'e brought together around the thimble, thelatches are moved inwardly about their respective pivots until the endsthereof enter the coacting notches in the companion section. During suchmovement, the adjacent pins are withdrawn manually to admit the latchendslnto their respective notches, and then the pins are released, at

,which time they project over the latches, as

" shown particularly in Fig. 3.

In operation, the strands are led from the respective bobbins andthreaded through the apertures in the vertical bar 20, thence throughthe apertures in the horizontal bar 2|, thence past beneath the roll 22and onto the beam. In Fig. 2, the sections designated 63 and 64 havebeen wound withfthe, pattern in the same sequence, that is, the lines 65and 66 in each section desigis reversed to that of the sections and 64.

At the completion of the winding operation, the beam is removed from themachine and is placed upon the knitting machine where, in conjunctionwith other beams, the threads are brought out and passed through theneedles and the knitting operation is started.

Before the knitting operationis started, I may, if desired, move thecollar sections from the beam,

except the end flanges 41, at which time the wound sections support eachother, due to the relative thinness of the material which formed I thecollar sections. In practice, such plates are approximately one-eighthof an inch in thickness and are, therefore, sufficiently thin topreclude the possibility of the end turns of yarn becoming tangled orfouled on the beam.

I have found that, in operation, the necessity for interposed sheets ofpaper has been eliminated, and that, because of such elimination,sections can be wound tighter; As a final result, the

beams may'bewound to contain substantially twice as much yarn asheretofore.

In this way, each knitting machine may be operated for substantiallytwice the length of time for any given threading of the machine. This isan important factor in the economy of operation, because of the timerequired to thread the needles and to set the beams upon the machine.

I claim:

1. A device for spacing sections of strands on a warp beam comprising, apair of separable semicircular plate sections. each having a centrallydisposed notch therein, the notches coacting to provide an aperturethrough which the beam may be passed, each section having a notchadjacent its, periphery and having a springpressed pin within the planeof the section adapted to overhand thenotch, and the other sectionhaving a Y latch fitted thereto within the plane of said section andshaped at its end to engage the notch in the other section, said pinbeing adapted to overlie the latch when said latch occupies said notch,whereby the sections may be clamped together.

2. A spacing device for use on a warp beam embodying a pair of separablesemi-circular plates, each having a semi-circular notch adjacent thecenter thereof,said notches cooperating to pro- 'vide an aperturethrough which the beam may be passed, each semi-circular plate having anotch on its periphery adjacent diametrically opposite engaging portionsof said plates, a spring pressed pin circumferentially spaced from thenotch within the plane of each respective plate, each pin adapted tooverhang the correspondin notch when released, each plate also having alatch pivoted thereto within the plane of the plate diametricallyopposite from the pin and notch on said plate, each of said latchesbeing shaped at the free end to engage the notch in the othersemi-circular plate, each of said spring pressed pins being adapted tooverlie the corresponding latch when said latch occupies the cooperatingnotch, whereby the semi-circular plates may be 15 6 securely clampedtogether to present a uniform spacing plane for the warp beam.

TOBIAS ROVAS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 10 Number Name Date 619,803 Succie Feb. 21, 1899FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 26,313 Great Britain of 1902

